A DONat story
by mikaru zero
Summary: DONat story nga. Ehem this is a scientian story. Based on real life. : NathaliexDon. AU. FINISHED! ! !
1. First Encounter

**First Meeting : Grade 6 **

**6 : 00 am**

Notebooks? Check.

Ballpens? Check.

Books? Check.

Backpack? Check.

Complete uniform? Check.

Snacks? Check.

Lunch? Check.

Seeing that everything is completely prepared, don smiled and felt satisfied.

_Right_, thought Don. _Everything's all set. Time to go to school._

--------- 0 o 0 ---------

**6 : 15 am**

BEEEEP - BEEEEP - _**BEEEEP !!!**_

Nathalie woke up with a start. She glanced at the clock and felt her jaw drop. She hurriedly took a bath and dressed in her uniform. She didn't even fix her crooked bowtie, nor did she even care. She went down from her room and headed straight to the dining room. Drinking her milk in one gulp and taking a piece of toast, she took her bag and waved goodbye at her mom.

_I won't play DoTA that late again_, thought Nathalie and clenched her teeth. _It's the first day of school and I'm going to be late. Great. Hmm… I think the school's 3 kilometers away from here.. I guess I can run all the way to school, then._

And off she went. She quickly slipped by the passersby and concentrated on getting to school. Considering that she was an athlete in her school previously, it's possible that she'll make it to school in time. The countdown to race towards school against time has begun.

--------- 0 o 0 ---------

**6 : 35 am**

Don had arrived at school. As he slung his bag over his shoulder, the door of the Ferrari was opened by his butler. After getting off the car, Don looked around.

_Ah, it's so good to be back_, thought Don.

Then, Don looked at the clock. It was almost 6 : 45. He went towards the covered court and joined the other would-be sixth graders already waiting in line.

--------- 0 o 0 ---------

Nathalie panted heavily.

She was now already in front of the school gates. Staggering slightly, she headed towards the covered court. She saw that the students have already grouped themselves according to grade levels. Nathalie couldn't find the crowd of 6th graders. Suddenly, she felt really dizzy. Using one of the columns of the court to support herself, she tried to rest for a while.

_Looks like nobody's going to notice a new girl like me_, thought Nathalie bitterly.

--------- 0 o 0 ---------

Don was bored. But not just bored. He was VERY bored.

Waiting in the covered court made him feel uneasy. He felt that he needed to do something other than chat with his former classmates. Thinking that this is a good reason to move around, he looked around the covered court to see if he can help someone or something like that.

That's when he first saw her. A girl alone without her own group, panting as if she had run towards the school for over 3 kilometers in less that 15 minutes. Don felt a funny feeling as he stood up and walked towards her…

--------- 0 o 0 ---------

Nathalie couldn't take it anymore.

She felt as if she was Atlas and the whole world was on her shoulders. Her body just felt so weird and heavy. She had already exhausted a lot of energy. She could almost feel her consciousness fading away when she suddenly heard a voice and looked at the speaker.

--------- 0 o 0 ---------

"God, you look tired." Said Don to the girl in front of him.

Don saw the girl sigh in relief. It was as if she had been waiting for someone to help her up. Looking closely, Don saw that she was still panting heavily and her breathing heavy. Then, he suddenly understood why she was alone and nobody has yet to come and help her.

"Are you a new student?" inquired Don.

The girl nodded.

Don smiled.

"Here, take my hand." And he extended his hand to her.

She took his hand and tried to stand up. Her knees buckled and almost fell down again when Don pulled her up again.

"Woah, careful." exclaimed Don.

--------- 0 o 0 ---------

Nathalie felt her face become hot. She was blushing too furiously.

_I hope the handsome guy doesn't notice this_, she thought.

She was right. It seems that the guy took her red face as a sigh of a fever.

"Come, let's go to the clinic." he said.

--------- 0 o 0 ---------

At the Clinic…

"Don't worry about it too much," said the doctor. "She's just tired and needs to rest for a few minutes. She also looks like she hasn't had a proper breakfast this morning, either. It seems like she left home in a hurry and ate only piece of toast."

Nathalie nodded.

"Well, since that's the case, here." The doctor handed her a bowl of noodles. Nathalie gratefully accepted it.

As Nathalie ate, Don asked the doctor.

"Can I stay here with her since she's a new student and has yet to know the school grounds yet?"

The doctor turned to Nathalie. Nathalie stopped eating.

"Are you a new student?" asked the doctor.

"Yes. I have just transferred from Miriam College. Me and my parents moved and decided to have me study sixth grade her at Tabernacle of Faith Christian Academy." replied Nathalie.

"Oh. Welcome to TFCA, then!" said Don enthusiastically.

"Thanks." smiled Nathalie and resumed eating the rest of the noodles.

Don felt himself blush a little. He couldn't understand why he felt elated at the sight of the newcomer's smile. When he couldn't think of any other reason, he concluded that the temperature had risen in the room. Oh, the wonders of a very GC mind.

Finally, after 5 minutes, Nathalie had eaten all of the noodles. After thanking the doctor, both Nathalie and Don started towards their supposed classrooms.

Along the way, Don engaged in a conversation with Nathalie.

"Oh, I guess I still haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Don. Don Vengua." said Don.

"My name is Nathalie Joy Sucgang but my friends call me – " began Nathalie but Don cut her in midsentence.

"Wait, Let me guess. It's… JOY!!!" laughed Don.

"It's Nathalie!" said an exasperated Nathalie.

"Whatever you say, Joy." grinned Don.

"Oh, stop it." smiled an amused Nathalie.

~And from that time on, Nathalie and Don had become close friends. ~

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	2. The Game!

**Chapter 2**

Classes have started.

Days passed.

Weeks had gone by.

Nathalie decided to try out for the Sports club.

Don had been voted to become the President of the Student Council.

But by this time, Nathalie had become too serious for her own good. Don noticed this, too.

"Joy!" hollered Don.

"Don't call me Joy!" yelled Nathalie.

Don grinned. He loves it when Nathalie gets worked on his taunts. He walked towards Nathalie's chair.

"What do you want?" said Nathalie when Don was only a few inches away from her chair.

"Wanna play badminton?" asked Don.

"No, I don't want to." replied Nathalie bluntly.

"Come on, loser will have to treat the winner with Cornetto."

"Fine. I'm in. What time will we play?

"Later at dismissal. I've already had the badminton court prepared."

"Okay. Later then."

~~--- O _ O ---~~

Don waited eagerly for dismissal.

He immediately answered every question a teacher asked him. One particular teacher wasn't exactly happy about this.

" My, Mr. VenGUa" said that particular teacher in her weirdly accented voice. "Isn'T yoo very eNThushaShTiK tuDei? I wunDeRR y iz thAt?"

_Tsk_, thought Don. _It's Ma'am Soria with her grammatically wrong accent again. There's no way out of this one. Guess I better take a risk._

"Why, yes ma'am." Said Don almost mockingly. "It's because I'm enjoying very well."

"WhY thaTZ very fLAtTering, mR. VengUA." Said a happy Ma'am Soria, oblivious to Don's mocking tone.

Don shook his head when the teacher turned to face the board. He couldn't wait for later's game…

~~--- O _ O ---~~

At last, the clock read 4 pm.

Don took his badminton racket & shuttlecock and went downstairs towards the badminton court. He went in the boy's locker room and changed his school uniform with his sports attire and waited for Nathalie.

~~--- O _ O ---~~

"Sorry, I won't be coming." Said Nathalie to her classmates getting ready to go to the mall. "I promised Don that I'll play badminton with him later this afternoon."

Nathalie's classmates sighed and nodded.

"It can't be helped then." Said Lyra.

"Yeah." Continued Maan.

"Anyway, have fun with Don!" grinned Blessie while holding Tim's hand so intimately.

"R-right.." trailed Nathalie, rather unsure of what to say.

Nathalie bid goodbye to her friends and slung her bag over her shoulder. As she went downstairs towards the badminton court, she thought of some strategies to beat Don at the game.

~~--- O _ O ---~~

Don was drinking water when Nathalie came. She was carrying her school bag with her and headed towards the girl's locker room.

_I'll have Butler to pick my bag down for me later,_ thought Don, realizing for the first time that he had left his bag upstairs.

After making a quick phone call to his butler, Butler, Don slipped his cellphone in his pocket and turned to see Nathalie already dressed up & getting her badminton racket on the bench.

Taking his own racket, Don began to swing it around as if to test it if it's light and easy to swing quickly. Feeling satisfied, Don went to his position in the court, opposite Nathalie who was already in her place.

Don sighed.

He just saw Nathalie's expression. She looked serious.

_TOO serious in fact_, thought Don. _Okay, time to put this plan into action…_

~~--- O _ O ---~~

**Don's plan was this:**

**He'll play badminton with Nathalie in a carefree manner, which means that he will not use any strategies against her. This will force her to go with the flow and decide to not use any strategies as well, and she'll eventually loosen up her uptight character & finally have fun.**

~~--- O _ O ---~~

"Come on, Nathalie!" yelled Don as he returned her smash successfully. "You've got to do better than that."

Nathalie clenched her teeth. She was now getting frustrated at Don's cheery and lighthearted attitude. All he does is hit and smash the shuttlecock from out-of-the-blue, and she can't get a pattern from his attacks.

Picking up the shuttlecock off the ground, she looked at Don's side of the court. Deciding to hit the farthest side away from Don, Nathalie aimed for the left side.

Still, Don caught it and flung it at here with utmost ease.

At this, Nathalie lost it.

Forgetting all of her planned strategies, she aimed the shuttlecock towards Don's direction directly.

At her attack, Don suddenly smiled. Nathalie wondered why.

~~--- O _ O ---~~

It worked! thought Don happily. Now she'll have fun as well! No more strenuous thinking for her at this game.

Just then, he felt something whiz near his right ear. Looking at his back, he saw the shuttlecock hit the ground and bounce a bit.

_Wow, didn't notice that one coming_, thought Don. _I can't even read her next moves now. Looks like she's really enjoying herself now._

Turning around, Don saw Nathalie grin.

~~--- O _ O ---~~

"Yes!" said Nathalie gleefully.

She had finally won a point over Don. Now she needs only 7 points more to beat Don.

Just then, Don aimed and the shuttlecock went towards her right side.

As Nathalie caught it and aimed it back to Don, she felt unusual happiness inside of her, a feeling she hadn't felt in months other than the feeling of getting a perfect score in her tests.

_Wow,_ thought Nathalie_. I never thought that a simple badminton game like this could be so fun!_

~~--- O _ O ---~~

…

An hour had passed and the final score was 12-to-10, in Nathalie's favor.

"Alright, I won!" said Nathalie with newfound happiness in her voice. Don noticed it, too.

"Great. Looks like you have really loosened up, huh?" said Don, who had returned with 2 cornettos in hand. As he handed one to Nathalie, he asked, "Do you want to know why I wanted to play badminton with you out-of-the-blue?"

"Hmm.. Now that you mention it, why did you ask me anyway?"

Don smiled.

"You see, these past few weeks, you had been too somber. You seem not to have any fun and I thought that you should loosen up a bit. Immediately what came into my mind was playing badminton, since you enjoyed playing it before you became too serious."

"Wow… I never realized that I was so staid. Did I really look THAT serious?"

"Yes. REALLY EXTREMELY serious."

Both Nathalie and Don laughed. Then, Don realized that he felt very happy inside. To this, he cannot find out why and therefore concluded (once again) that this must have come from the success of his plan. **(AN: He is really dense, isn't he?)**

"You know Nathalie, I –" began Don but was cut in midsentence after hearing Nathalie's cheerful voice.

"Wow vanilla! This is my favorite, thanks a lot Don!!" cried Nathalie with much delight in her expression.

_I'll tell her next time, then_. said Don in his mind.

~And so, they ended the day with more laughter and another round of cornetto. :))~

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	3. Transfer Trouble

The rest of the school year passed by.

Nathalie and Don had successfully passed their tests and exams with flying colors. Still, in the end, Don came up with a higher score than her by half a point, thus leaving Nathalie in a temporary fit of frustration. Don alleviated this by treating her to another round of cornetto, and everything ended well.

At least, THAT's what they thought…

~~--- O _ O ---~~

(A month before graduating..)

At the Vengua residence –

"Don." said a stern voice.

"Yes, father?" replied Don.

"We have decided that you will study in Quezon City Science High School from 1st year to 4th year."

"What?! But father..!"

"No buts. You are aware of your brilliantly intelligent mind, right?"

"Y-yes."

"You need to improve your studies and the best way you mother and I have thought was that to have you study in QCSHS, the regional science high school. They will train you in the area of english, math, and science and you will surely gain more knowledge. Don't you want that, too? Considering that you are my heir in our company and business, it is only right for you to have the best education there is. Don't you think so, too?"

"Yes, but – "

"I told you a while ago, no buts, right?"

Don was left standing in the room, baffled and perplexed, while his father stood up from the couch and left for work.

~~--- O _ O ---~~

Meanwhile, in the Sucgang household –

"Nathalie!" called a voice.

"Yes, mom?" answered Nathalie as she went downstairs.

"We have great news."

"Really? What is it? Could you please make it fast? I'm still doing my manila paper project in ICT."

Nathalie's mom smiled. _Oh, her wonderfully GC mind_, she thought.

"I was given a flyer near the mall about this school," she began. "It promotes teaching subjects needed for this generation's new scientists, engineers, etc."

"Really? And that's good news because..?"

"We will enroll you to that school for high school!"

Nathalie felt her jaw drop. Recovering her composure, she complained, "But mom! My grades are already high and I don't even misbehave in TFCA!"

"We know, and this will be a good opportunity for you to have a better education, won't it?"

Nathalie privately agreed. Still, she can't understand why she's being hesitant about this. If she will learn a lot of new things, shouldn't she be happy?

"Then what school is it?"

"It's…"

~~--- O _ O ---~~

Days passed.

Still, Nathalie and Don haven't told each other yet of the news. Both of them don't even know why they're being hesitant about it. This sudden conflict left them distancing from each other, and even their classmates noticed this. Normally, both of them talk to each other all the time and are always together that it seemed that they were totally inseparable. (In short, MU.)

"Good morning, Nathalie!" said Lyra.

Nathalie continued to stare near the window.

"Hey, Nathalie~" said CK.

No response.

"UIII Nathalieeee!" said Blessie and Maan.

Nothing again.

Then, CK decided to poke Nathalie's face.

*poke, poke, poke~*

Seeing that there's no response, CK deliberately took Nathalie's hand and used it to slap Nathalie.

This time, it had an impact.

"Ow!" said Nathalie. "Why you – "

"Ahahaha," laughed CK.

"Hey Nathalie!" said Maan.

"Yeah?"

"We were calling you a while ago. Why the long face?" asked Blessie.

Nathalie touched her face. "No, it's not! My face isn't long!"

Maan rolled her eyes.

"No you dummy. I meant, why are you so somber and quiet?" said an exasperated Blessie.

"Ohh…"

"So. You gonna tell us what the hell is wrong?" asked Paula.

"Oh, I know. You and Don had a fight! I remember Paula being like this with her fight with Nick." Said Marrian.

"No I didn't! And we didn't even fight."

"Oh. I guess it was Lyra and Denzel who fought."

"…" Lyra looked at Marrian in silence.

"Anyway, we didn't fight." Said Nathalie. "We hadn't even talked to each other."

"What? Wasn't not talking to each other means you fought or something?" asked Lea.

"Hmm, if I put it this way: we don't talk much to Ma'am Soria, don't we?"

"Yeah."

"So does that mean we fought each other?"

"No. Ehhh. This one is different!"

Sighing, Nathalie resumed staring through the window. Noticing that she won't answer their questions seriously, Lea, Maan, Blessie, Paula, and Marrian turned to Lyra who was looking at Nathalie.

"So, why did you fight?" asked Blessie.

Lyra stopped looking and went towards CK. "CK, borrow notes pleeease."

Ck looked at Lyra. "Tell us why you and Denzel fight first."

Lyra narrowed her eyes. "Pinagtutulungan nyo ko ahh.."

~~--- O _ O ---~~

Meanwhile..

"Don!" yelled Tim.

"What?" yelled Don back, who was busy playing basketball with the other guys.

"Come here for a moment. We want to ask you something."

When Don reached them, Nick asked, "So. What happened?"

"What?"

"Between you and Nathalie. You both haven't talked to each other for days now. There's only one week now before graduation."

"Ohh.. It's nothing actually."

"Hey, if things aren't gonna get better, Felix or Fritz will win."

Don snorted. Felix has had a crush on Nathalie since she had enrolled here in TFCA while Fritz fell in love with her after she beat him in a badminton game.

"So what?"

Both Tim and Nick raised and eyebrow.

"What? Don't you like Nathalie?"

"What are you talking about, we're just friends." said an annoyed Don.

"Wehhh. Really?"

"REALLY." Said Don, rolling his eyes.

Yet inside, he felt a pang of doubt. _Do I really think of Nathalie as just a friend?_

"Anyways," said Don. "Why are you asking me this?"

Tim and Nick both fell silent at the same time, remembering the previous conversation during recess.

**-Flashback- **

_Hey Tim!_

_Nick!_

_Both boys turned around and saw Blessie and Paula waving their hands towards their direction. Abandoning their tennis game, they started walking towards them. _

"_What? Why did you call?" asked Tim._

"_Well…" began Blessie._

"_We wanted to ask you a favor." continued Paula._

"_What favor?" inquired Nick._

"_We want you to talk to Don about something." said Paula._

"_Haven't you noticed that both of them are distancing themselves to each other?" asked Blessie._

"_Yeah, we've noticed." said Tim._

"_So, we want you to ask Don why he hasn't been talking to Nathalie lately." finished Paula simply._

_Both boys stared at the two girls in front of them._

"_Pretty please?" asked Paula with a very convincingly sweet smile._

"_With a cherry on top?" continued Blessie complete with a very cute smile on her face._

_Of course, both boys couldn't possibly resist those awesomely cute smiles and ended up agreeing to the request the two girls asked of them. (Actually, they couldn't say no because Tim likes Blessie and Nick likes Paula secretly)_

**-End of flashback-**

"Hellooo?" said Don, waving his hand over Nick and Tim's faces.

"What?" asked Tim, returning back to reality.

"I asked you why you asked me about Nathalie."

"Ohh. It was nothing. Right, Nick?"

"Y-yeah." lied Nick. "We just noticed how both of you aren't talking to each other, that's all."

"Ohh."

_Was it really that attention-catching? How we aren't talking to each other?_ asked Don mentally to himself. _Fine. I'll break the news to her soon then. Before we really graduate._

~~--- O _ O ---~~

Days still passed.

Don watched Nathalie as she did the practical test; She was doing a volley using a table tennis racket and ball.

_Darn. I have yet to tell her about my transfer_. Said Don to himself, clenching his teeth.

…

The weekends arrived.

_I wonder_, said Nathalie. _When will I eventually tell Don of my transfer?_

~~--- O _ O ---~~

Finally, Graduation came. Both of them still didn't break the silence.

Then, Don decided that if he'll tell Nathalie about it, it better be now. Taking all of his courage, he took his cellphone and called Nathalie..

------

Nathalie heard her phone ring. Taking her phone from her bag, she looked at the screen to see who was calling.

It was Don.

Taking a deep breath, she answered the call and said, "Hello?"

_Err.. hi Nathalie_, she heard Don answer.

"Why are you calling? Is there a problem?"

_Uhmm, not really.. But I want you to meet me now at the badminton court. I have something to tell you._

"Oh. Okay. See you."

_Bye._

Nathalie hurried downstairs. During her brisk run, she passed Blessie and the girls. Nathalie thought she saw them do a high-five. Shrugging, she continued towards the court.

~~--- O _ O ---~~

Don felt nervous. He doesn't know why. He looked at his watch.

"It's 8:47 already. The graduation ceremony will start any time now.." he muttered.

Then, he saw Nathalie coming. He stared. She looked so nice with a dress and her hair fixed like that.

_Although it's nicer if she had make-up on.._ said Don mentally to himself. _Wait, what am I thinking? Argh, I can't even understand myself. What's wrong with me?!_

Suddenly, Don was sent back to reality by a clear voice.

"Why did you call me here, Don?"

Don looked up. It seems Nathalie had arrived and asked him a question.

"Oh. Right. You see.." said Don, unable to find the right words.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I hadn't talked to you these past few days." Said Don, bowing his head.

Nathalie blinked.

"Actually, I couldn't face you and tell you something… and I was really troubled by it." continued Don. "My father had decided that I transfer to QCSHS."

To Don's surprise, he heard Nathalie chuckle. Looking up, he saw Nathalie smile.

~~--- O _ O ---~~

"Actually, I too, have something to confess.." smiled Nathalie.

"R-really?" said a confused Don.

"I was also told by my parents that I'll be transferring to a new school.."

"Ohh…" said Don, thinking that he may not see her anymore if she transferred to a far school.

"..And that particular school was also QCSHS!" finished Nathalie, grinning.

"Oh!" said Don, now grinning ear to ear and laughing. "That's great!"

"Yeah, isn't it?" laughed Nathalie. "And here I was, nervous to tell you this news.."

Laughing still, both of them walked towards the auditorium without any heavy hearts now and graduated with big smiled on their faces.

Still, in the end, Don became the Valedictorian, leaving Nathalie the Salutatorian title.

"It looks like I win again, JOY." grinned Don.

"Don't call me Joy!" yelled Nathalie, a bit frustrated that Don beat her again.

~But, after another round of cornettos, everything ended well, as usual.~

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	4. First Day

"Wow, you actually arrived here without being late. Nice."

Nathalie and Don were out on the school grounds, eating for recess. It was pretty much like a normal first day… except that every seatmate that you have now has an IQ level of at least 110. Nathalie felt intimidated all at once.

"What, did you miss that?" asked Nathalie sarcastically.

"Yep."

When Nathalie turned to face him and protest, he continued, "I miss saving you from the guard whenever you're late. I just feel so incomplete when I hadn't done that in at least once a week."

"Silly."

"I know. Old habits die hard."

Nathalie stared on to the school soccer field. So dry. The grass is sooooo dry. Nathalie was pretty much hating the sun right now.

"Why," said Nathalie, "are there so few trees here? The grass is so dry! It's hot! I feel like a pancake."

"Hahaha," laughed Don. "That's something we_ have _to get used to with. Anyways, how was your first 2 hours here, Nathalie?"

Nathalie grimaced. Don laughed.

"Nathalie.?"

"It was.. " Then Nathalie sighed. "I feel like I won't last here for about a week."

"Nathalie!" said Don – louder, alarmed now. "Whatever made you think that?"

"To be honest… I feel very intimidated."

"Well, don't be."

"It's difficult no to."

Don sighed. _When will she ever have a good look at herself_, thought Don.

"Don't worry. If someone tries to intimidate you on purpose, _I'll_ intimidate them for you."

Both of them laughed. Then Don looked at his watch.

"Oh. It's 9:40 already. Come on let's go back to the classroom."

"Sure sure."

At the classroom… It was pretty much messier than before. Nathalie stared in disbelief at the previously composed and intimidating faces of her classmates which had now turned into masks of mischievousness and agitation. Don smirked.

"See what I mean?" said Don.

Nathalie shook her head incredulously.

"Ah," said Nathalie. "The teacher isn't here yet..?"

"Hmm.. She _is_ late."

"Let's just sit down. There's nothing good done when we're just standing here."

"Okay."

And.. exactly as they sat down on their seats, the teacher came and so they had to stand up to greet her properly.

After 3 periods..

"Hahaha." Laughed Nathalie.

Both she and Don were again on the island. It was Don's turn to tell Nathalie his first hours.

"It was boring." Said Don in gritted teeth. Nathalie laughed.

"I mean, she treats us as if we're little children or something. I was trying so hard not to excuse myself from the lesson. Ugh. Thinking about it makes me even more irritated."

"Well.. maybe she thinks that we need some kind of review. Before starting real classes."

"We're not _that_ far behind."

"Yes, I see what you mean. Still, Earth Science was something, right?"

"Yeah. I think I'm gonna like that one."

"I like Algeb better."

Don snorted. "Of course you like it. It's math."

"Haha."

Nathalie was about to start talking about another topic when she noticed some people walking towards them.

"Hi." Said a girl. "My name is Marrian."

"Oh." Said Nathalie. "My name is Nathalie and.. this here is…" she pointed to Don.

"Don." Said Don, nodding towards them.

"I'm Marie.." Said another girl.

"And I'm Lea. Nice to meet you, Don and Nathalie."

"A pleasure to meet you." Said Don.

Marrian, Marie and Lea exchanged glances.

"Um.. Nathalie? Can we speak to you for a sec?"

"Uhh sure." Said Nathalie.

When the girls got a good distance away from Don, Marie sighed in relief.

"Phew. Finally." Said Marie, and she looked Nathalie in the eye.

"So.. are you and Don going out?" asked Lea.

"No, don't worry. I'm sorry if we're being FC and all, but we're reeeaally curious." Said Marrian.

Nathalie gaped at them.

"Come on answer the question." Said Marie eagerly.

"No." said Nathalie curtly. "We're _NOT_ going out. We're _JUST_ friends."

"Ohh, to bad." Said Marrian.

Nathalie raised an eyebrow.

"What, didn't you notice?" asked Lea.

"With Don's gentlemanly skills and good looks, it's impossible not to have a crush on him. Besides, almost all of the first year girls are talking about him. We heard it in the girls CR. And I even heard the 2nd and 3rd years talking about him as well. And it's only a matter of time before the 4th years get started, too…" said Marie.

Nathalie laughed. The other 3 girls stared at her.

"Don't worry. I don't think that'll ever happen. Knowing Don, he'd just reject everyone else. He did the same at our old school."

"Ohh.. okay. By the way, what's your ym?" asked Marie.

"Uhh.."

"Mine's JFC_14." Said Marrian.

"Papa_Ron." Said Lea.

"Lovemahcurlz." Grinned Marie.

"Ohh.. Sorry, I don't use ym at all."

"Hmm. If you're planning on surviving high school, you have got to have a ym."

"Okaaaay I'll remember that, thanks!"

When the 3 girls left, Nathalie thought to herself, _Okay. 3 new friends on my first day. Wow. A new record._

Meanwhile…

Don watched the girls walk towards the covered court. As he followed them with his eyes, he felt a bit irritated inside.

_Wonder what they're about_, thought Don.

Don continued eating while waiting for them to finish. All of a sudden, he heard someong laughing. It was Nathalie. Don felt his heart leap.

_Ahh.. Her laugh is pretty much the same. Huh. Wonder why I'm thinking of her laugh anyway_. wondered Don.

Finally, when the 3 girls left, Nathalie walked on towards the island.

"What took you so long?" asked Don.

Nathalie rolled her eyes and chuckled. "It's nothing."

Don raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it!" grinned Nathalie. "They were just wishing you good luck, that's all."

"What?"

"Oh look." Said Nathalie. "It's 1:55 already. Let's go back now…"

". . . you don't have any plans of telling me anything, huh."

"Haha.. you'll see for yourself soon."

Don felt the distance between his eyebrows narrow as he thought of the possibilities of just what he would need luck for.

. . .

He didn't have to wait for long.

It was dismissal, and when he just got back from helping a teacher carry some notebooks, a girl appeared. She was blushing.

"U-um." Said the girl.

"Yes?" asked Don politely.

If possibly, the girl blushed even more. She took a deep breath..

"I like you!"

Don felt his eyes widen. _What the heck?_ thought Don.

"C-could you go out with me?" asked the girl, fidgeting.

"I'm sorry. I can't." said Don with utmost politeness.

"Ohh.. too bad." Said the girl, and she ran away.

Don sighed.

He took another few steps when another girl appeared.

"D-don.. c-could you go out wit me?" asked the girl.

Don felt his jaw drop a little.

"I'm sorry." Said Don.

"Oh.. That's okay. I won't give up!" and she came running away.

Don was just near the classroom when still, another girl showed up.

"I love you! Could you be my boyfriend?"

Don thought if the world has gone mad.

"I'm sorry," sighed Don.

"O-okay." Said the girl, and she ran down the stairs.

Praying that there will be no more girls confessing to him, he entered the classroom. Nathalie was there, as if waiting for him to return. Don fixed his expression to be playfully irritated.

"So, what happened?" asked Nathalie, grinning.

"You could've warned me you know." Said Don.

"Hahaha," laughed Nathalie. "Heartbreaker."

Don snorted.

"Come on. Let's go down now.."

When they went down the stairs, Don noticed some girls looking at him.

Don sighed and looked at Nathalie.

"It's a good thing I'm with you. They won't go near me at all."

"Ahaha.." said Nathalie, though Don thought he saw her blush slightly.

Beep beep!

A car was waiting near the gate. Don waved goodbye to Nathalie and off he went.

_Okay.._ thought Nathalie_. If first day was this hectic, I wonder what kind of high school life will I have..? Hehe. I'm pretty much excited already. _


	5. Birthday Surprise!

"Hehe.." chuckled a voice. "I'll make tomorrow a day you'll never forget."

* * *

Nathalie woke up with a start.

She was panting heavily. She looked at the clock. It was almost 8 am.

She felt a jolt of electricity jerking her awake. It was a tingling feeling.

She's now 14 years old.

Since it was Saturday, she thought about the things she'd be doing the whole day. Computer gaming, sleep, watching tv, going to the mall, listening to music, sleep, read some books and magazines, sleep, draw, chat, text, sleep…

Sleep. Oh! Sleep, SLEEP, **SLEEP!!**

Thank God, thought Nathalie. Thank God it's Saturday. I'm pooped after a long week full of homeworks, quizzes, crammed and near-the-deadline projects, and sleeping spells at surprisingly.. during Geom time. (Good thing I can still answer the geom tests, though. ) I'm gonna have a peaceful yet relaxing birthday this year…

Nathalie had spoken too soon. As if the timing was perfectly planned, Nathalie's cellphone rang.

Someone was calling.

If only Nathalie had known beforehand that this call would be the reason that would leave her tired and ruin her daydreamed sleeping birthday, she would've not answered it. But, since she has an absolutely good sense of bad luck, she had unfortunately answered the call.

The caller was someone whom Nathalie thought would've never called her at this time. Especially when his house was just across the street.

It was Don.

'Hi Nathalie.' said Don's voice.

"Hello Don. Why'd you call? You could've –"

'Wait let me explain.'

"Okaaayy.." trailed Nathalie.

'First things first… Happy Birthday Nathalie!'

"Thanks!" (Don felt his heart jump at the sound of her happy voice.)

'So. Since it's you birthday…'

"Wait. You're not gonna let me rest in peace today, huh."

Nathalie heard Don chuckle from the other end of the line.

'Nope. Not-at-all.' Said Don VERY SLOWLY.

Nathalie groaned.

'Because I'm going to treat you.'

"What."

'I'm gonna give you your birthday gift.'

"What."

'Gi –'

"If it's a gift, why don't you just send it here –"

'No.'

"What."

'You have got to stop that habit of yours of answering with just "what". Anyways, just stop spacing out and get dressed.. and meet me at the sky garden later.'

Then the line went dead.

…

At Don's side of the line..

"Part 1 complete." Grinned Don.

…

"WHAAAAT THE HELL!!!!" yelled Nathalie, but quickly shut herself up when she became aware that it was currently 8 am and most of the people were still sleeping. That is, until she realized that her room was specially built to be soundproof so that she would not disturb anyone when she suddenly has fits like that (yes, her parents learned of this the hard way).

Nathalie sighed. She slumped herself back onto her bed and began to rewind the previous conversation with Don. Don mentioned something about a "gift"… and he also said that he'll wait for her at the sky garden…

"AH!" shrieked Nathalie, messing her messy hair. She realized that Don was going to wait for her! She quickly got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

.....

Don looked patiently at his watch. It was quarter to 9. Of course, he expects Nathalie to arrive at about 9:30.. or maybe 10. Don started to order a mocha cappuccino on a nearby café. He was about to finish drinking the beverage when he looked to his right. What Don saw made his eyes widen in surprise and almost spurt the drink back to the cup.

_Now that's something you don't get to see everyday_, thought Don. Nathalie had arrived. She was wearing a hooded cardigan on top of a pink tank tunic, along with a tiered ruffled black skirt and a pair of sandals with intricately printed images of butterflies.

Don smiled. "Dazzling, Nathalie. You could beat Edward Cullen."

Nathalie rolled her eyes.

"So. Why am I here again?"

Don grinned.

"Because."

"Oh, come on. You have got to have a more sensible answer than that."

"Okay.. It's because you seemed down lately.."

"It's because of stress. And it's not just 'seemed'." Interjected Nathalie.

"Yes, that." Continued Don, agreeing with Nathalie. "Stress because of being our very busy class representative.""

"I envy you." Sighed Nathalie. "You're the vice president of the student council yet you're so energetic. I wonder why is that.."

"Ha! I'll tell you."

"Oh please do."

"It's because I always relieve my stress at home, either playing DoTA, watching tv, sleeping.. sort of like a stress ball.."

Nathalie rolled her eyes. "How can you finish things when you're doing stuff like that!"

This time, Don rolled his eyes. "This is exactly why you're stressed. But don't worry, that will be gone soon enough.,,"

"What do you mean?" said Nathalie, glaring. Don just grinned.

Suddenly, Don grabbed Nathalie's hand and led her down the garden. At the end of the path, Nathalie saw Don's car. She was surprised because she hadn't seen the car there before when she had gone past this path a while ago. And, with Nathalie's thoughts occupied by her surprise, she hadn't noticed that Don was already pushing her to get on the car. And when she did, Don had already gone in and told the driver to drive.

"Hey, where are we going?" asked Nathalie.

"…" Don didn't respond, and it seems like he was too busy gazing, watching, staring, and admiring intently the sceneries the car was passing by. But Nathalie knew better.

"Heeeeeeeey~" said Nathalie, constantly poking Don's shoulder.

… (Don's POV)

"Hey, where are we going?" Don heard Nathalie ask.

Don tried to ignore the question Nathalie's sweet voice asked. It almost took all of his concentration to turn a deaf ear to her and just stare at the sceneries outside.

Then Nathalie consented to poking and drawling.

"Heeeeeeeey~"

Don's concentration on ignoring Nathalie halved. _What am I going to tell her??_ He thought.

Don turned a bit to see Nathalie's face. Wrong move. He only saw a bit of Nathalie's pouting face and immediately all of his focus disappeared. Outside, his composure is fine but inside Don's mind he is… panicking. Panicking because first, he saw that Nathalie was pouting and second, he doesn't understand on why he was panicking over that pout.

Still, Don managed to blurt out a proper response (er.. excuse) without any trace of him panicking. "If I tell you, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore, right?"

"…that's true."

"So just be patient, okay?"

"Okay."

Nathalie showed anything but patience. She constantly said 'Are we there yet?' and pestered even the driver. Outside, Don was raising his eyebrow on Nathalie's silly behavior but inwardly, he was laughing. He had never thought that Nathalie had this childishly impatient behavior.

…

"Are we there yet?" said Nathalie for the umpteenth time.

Don sighed. _This question again.._ he thought, and looked outside the window.

… (Nathalie's POV)

_Great, what a response to my question_. thought Nathalie. _Don just stared at the window! What good will that do –_

"Hey, Nathalie." Said Don suddenly.

"What?"

He turned to face me. He was grinning. "We're here."

I sat up straight and looked at the window. I almost felt my jaw drop.

He took me to Enchanted Kingdom?!!?!?!

…(Don's POV)

"We're here." I said to Nathalie.

As Nathalie looked to the window, I almost had a laughing fit. What a reaction! What a face!! Argh, I. Should. Not. Laugh. Loudly…!

"You took me to Enchanted Kingdom?!?!?!!" shrieked Nathalie.

That was it. Her latest statement knocked off my concentration and now I was laughing hard and loudly. "Yeah, what's the problem with it?" I said between my laughs. "I assumed that you have tons of stress and a mere DotA game or stress ball will not be able to relieve you of it. So instead, I brought you here –"

I couldn't continue my statement. Why you ask? Well, it's kind of hard to stop laughing when one moment ago you see Nathalie have that dumbstruck expression then suddenly she messes her hair in a very funny way… after which the hair falls back to place as if nothing had happened to it. Haaaa~ today's gonna be a loooong day..

…(Nathalie's POV)

!

I can't believe that he'd actually bring me this far just make my stress go away. NGH. What IS going on inside that head of his…

"So, shall we go?" said Don, grinning.

"Okay." We went inside and I prepared myself for any future humiliation and loss of dignity. What I didn't prepare for, unfortunately, is the sheer loudness of the crowd that almost made my ears fall to the ground. Darn Space Shuttle shouters!

…

Squeals filled the air the moment the pair entered the theme park. They were both thinking wildly on which ride to go to first. Don, the quick thinker that he is, grabbed Nathalie's hand and led her towards the Space Shuttle, to her dismay.

As they neared the ride, Nathalie gawked at it. "We're going to ride THIS?! Immediately after arriving?! Are you mad?"

"Hmm.. considering that my birthday gift to you is a trip to a theme park.. and comparing it with this –he points to the Space Shuttle – aren't you the one crazy here, Nathalie?" he grinned.

Nathalie couldn't help but agree to his logic, but never will she admit that she, herself, is crazy.

Well, she could almost call herself that when she had agreed with Don's idea on riding the Space Shuttle.

First.

And she greatly regretted her stupid decision. Feeling very dizzy and startled by the triple loop coaster, she almost clung to Don for support. It seemed that Don didn't mind it one bit.

"Hmm.. I wonder where we are going next…"

Nathalie was about to protest when Don said something about Rio Grande Rapids and sped off again, still grabbing Nathalie's hand.

…

Nathalie can only describe the ride in one word : WET.

And the Jungle Log Jam? The same. She still got wet. A bit. Darn water rides.

Nathalie racked her brain for the previous conversations with Don. Nathalie recalled him saying that this is supposed to relieve her of her stress… This is exactly the opposite! Nathalie felt herself get tired by the minute. To tired. Must fall down…

…(Don's POV)

Jeez! This is too fun! I'm really enjoying myself… I wonder if Nathalie does too.. Oh no.

Don noticed Nathalie looking tired behind him.

Maybe I was too energetic.. Ah! I know the perfect ride…

And so, Don grabbed Nathalie's hand again and sped off to the Jungle Outpost area.

…(Nathalie's POV)

.GOD.

Where is he dragging me this time? Hell?!

As Don dragged me away, I wondered if my arm was about to come off with so much dragging and grabbing. I barely took any notice of my surroundings. Wait, is that a lake?

…

I don't believe it.

Sure, I get to have an undisturbed rest after all those insane rides… But here?!

In Swan Lake?!

Oh great, did I hear a camera click? I looked at my right where I had heard it. There was nothing there. Darn it, am I having hallucinations now?

"Err.. Nathalie?" I heard Don ask.

"Yeah?"

"Umm..I'm sorry for dragging you everywhere, I got too carried away."

"Yeah, you did. VERY CARRIED AWAY."

He just grinned sheepishly.

Well, I guess this is fine. I'll just take a nap for a few minutes…

…(Don's POV)

Oh, she slept. Guess she was really tired huh. Stupid me. I should think also about her well-being and stuff… While she's sleeping, maybe I'll go plan the next rides…

…

"Urgh.. How long did I sleep?"

"About 20 minutes."

"OH. Shall we go?"

"Sure."

Hehe… the next ride, here we go!

…(Nathalie's POV)

"H-hey! Where are we going?"

NO response. Don just continued to drag me to another ride. Again. But then I caught sight of a certain ride; well it's not exactly a ride but still that will serve as my revenge to Don. I quickly pulled my hand away from his grasp and instead took his hand and led him towards the bumper cars.

Payback time.

"Whoa!" said Don, losing the wheel for a second as Nathalie bumped into him. He heard Nathalie laugh so hard that he felt blood rush to his face in embarrassment. Then he felt Nathalie bump him again.

"Come on Don!" shouted Nathalie, clearly grinning. "Tired already?" she taunted. Don couldn't help but grit his teeth in slight annoyance.

"Why you!" he said, a grin slowly creeping up to his face. Don couldn't help but smile now, because Nathalie is now finally having fun. But he can't ignore the fact that the reason Nathalie's enjoying now is because of his great humiliation here at the bumper cars.

"Hee hee." Said Nathalie, bumping him again. Don wondered on how long this torment continues. Luckily for him, it was now the turn of the other people waiting in line and he quickly dragged Nathalie away from the bumper car waiting line she was running towards to.

"Hey, not fair." Pouted Nathalie.

"It's lunch already…" said Don, looking at his watch and praying that it really was lunch already. Fortunately for him, it was. They settled near a food stall and ordered their lunch. As they both ate, Don watched Nathalie munch her lunch; Nathalie didn't notice Don doing this. Don didn't even realize he was watching Nathalie til he saw his half-eaten lunch in front of him.

"So, where will we go next?" asked Nathalie, as she got up from her chair.

"Hmm… " replied Don.

"Oh, I know!" said Nathalie. "Let's ride that!" and she pointed to the huge Ferris wheel in front of them.

Don looked at where Nathalie pointed at and smiled. "Okay."

As they neared the ride, Nathalie groaned.

"Oh man, look at the line!" she said, and pointed to the very long line that stretched until the Flying Fiesta.

"Wait here." Said Don. Nathalie stared at his retreating figure that neared the Ferris wheel booth. She saw the man at the booth nod and Don waved at her to come. Next thing Nathalie knew, she was enjoying the sights along with Don. In the Ferris wheel. Nathalie couldn't help but think about what had happened a while ago, when Don just talked to the guy in charge of the Ferris wheel booth and they instantly got ahead of the line.

"Hey Don –" began Nathalie.

"Wow, we're so high up here. Don't you just love the view here?" said Don, cutting into Nathalie's statement and flashing a huge smile at her. Nathalie couldn't help but say something intelligent like:

"Uhhh…"

"Come on, look."

Nathalie looked. And gasped.

"Wow… the view really IS nice here." Smiled Nathalie.

"Yeah…"

Both of them continued to be fascinated by the sights in front of them. Til Don broke the silence.

"So… if you could rate on how much fun you had today in a scale between 1 – 10 with 10 being the highest, what would your score be?"

"Hmm…"

3 whole minutes had passed when Nathalie finally answered: "I guess… 9."

"Ehh?" said Don, doing a fake pouting face. "Why 9 only?"

"Well, considering that you dragged me everywhere here in EK –"

"Almost." cut Don.

"Okay, _almost_. Don't you think being dragged from place to place is not all fun?"

"Well, you have a point there…"

"But still," continued Nathalie as if Don hadn't said anything, "I had not let myself go this much when I was at school or at home, and I really enjoyed going here with you. The rides were fun, especially the Bumper Cars." Grinned Nathalie. "So I'm giving a score of 9!"

Don almost felt blood rush to his face when he saw Nathalie flash that cute grin. Determined not to have Nathalie see his face, he looked the other way and said, "Heh. I'm really glad that you had fun. Hmm.. maybe I _should_ drag you here every time I notice that you're too stressed again…"

"NO!" Nathalie almost yelled. Don couldn't help but grin. "I'm sooo not gonna be stressed if you're going to drag me here again –"

"At school too," said Don, cutting into Nathalie's statement once again. "If I see you tired and poofed out at school again, I won't hesitate at all and bring you here again. Even if it means having to cut class." Grinned Don. _What? Why the heck did I say that? _thought Don.

"I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO BALANCE MY SCHEDULE SO THAT I WON'T CRAM AGAIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH." Said Nathalie, her eyebrows almost knitted to each other. Don laughed.

"Okay, Ferris wheel time is up." Said Don. Nathalie looked outside. They _were _already down and saw that the other people in line were getting a bit impatient.

"Okay okay." Said Nathalie, getting out of the *thing that they were sitting on the Ferris wheel* **[An: What! Di din alam ni Magboo or ni Lea kung ano tawag dyan ehh. :P]**. She didn't notice that Don stretched out a hand to help her get down, or that she involuntarily took his hand and held onto it for a long time. As they walked on the crowded lanes, they didn't notice some people eyeing them and whispering something about them being a young couple. Then, when Don noticed the shooting booths, he was determined this time on not dragging Nathalie towards it.

"Where are we going?" asked Nathalie who was being pulled by Don.

"You'll see." Said Don, and Nathalie could almost imagine seeing him grin.

When they had arrived, Nathalie raised an eyebrow and wondered on what could have made Don go here. Nathalie could see a lot of different booths; ring toss, card darts, shooting galleries… Speaking of shooting galleries, Don was walking towards one. Nathalie followed him.

"Hey, what are you gonna do here –" Nathalie froze when she saw that Don was holding one of the guns for the booth. _Whaaaaat?_ Thought Nathalie.

Pretty soon, Nathalie's attention was occupied by Don's amazing accurate aims on the targets of the gallery. _Hmm.. even with glasses, he shoots pretty well._ thought Nathalie.

Nathalie was too deep in thought to notice that Don had put something soft onto her face.

It was a stuffed toy.

"Heeey." Said Don. "Here, I wanted to give this to you."

"Oh wow, you won?"

"What? You can't believe I won? I have skills you know." Grinned Don.

"Skills your face." Said Nathalie while playfully punching Don's arm. "Waaa it's so cute.."

_Just like you_, thought Don. When Don realized that he had just had that thought, he quickly cleared his head.

"Shall we go home? I'm pretty tired.." muttered Don.

"Haha! Sure. Let's go!" laughed Nathalie, and both of them headed towards the exit.

Only when they had reached the car that Don realized that Nathalie was still holding his hand.


	6. Delegation troubles

Blahblaahh chatter chatter sige lang madaming ingay uy sumigaw si bryan aaaat tumili si eliza kasi ginulat ni bantang hala daldal parin ung iba pssh ppssh whisper whisper blaaaahhh..

The class was veeeery noisy. **(obviously :])**

The teacher was out, and there was no seatwork need to be done. Actually, nothing was left to the class to do except… to be noisy.

Then suddenly, all of them heard a voice; such was the voice, that everyone stopped bickering, talking, whispering, atbp.

"Magandang hapon Helium.

"All stood up. "Magandang hapon po Bb. Hilario."

"I was just passing by… **(yeah right :|)** .. when I heard very loud noises. Ganyan ba ang tamang asal ng isang scientian students? Haaay nako helium.."

Helium II stared.

"Anyhow, I'm here to check your haeirrcots **(teka, kala ko ba passing by kalang**). Let's see if you are still following the first Monday haeirrcot."** (****sinasadya)**

The boys looked at one another. They had NOT paid attention to that.**(As if they'd actually care)**

"Ay, halata.. **(ay nako halata naman talaga, parang bunot na sa kapal ung buhok kasi nila unang tingin palang)** … na hindi kayo sumunod. Tsk tsk tsk… Tim. Musta naman na?"

'Oohhs' and glances responded from the class.**(Intriga! Mam hilario at tim!!!)**

"Ganda ng hair natin ngaun ah."

Tim glanced down sheepishly.

"Nevermind na nga lang. Anyways…

"We need to representatives from your section to be included in the upcoming math contest abroad. Who will volun – yes kat?"

"Umm, we decided beforehand that if it's a math contest we're talking about, the contestants will either be Matt or Nathalie. Since you need 2 representatives, the both of them will join."

"Yeah!" agreed the class.

The looks on the faces of both Matt and Nathalie obviously says that they do NOT agree at all.

"You can always decline, Nathalie." Whispered Don.

Nathalie sighed. "Don't worry. Since it's math, most likely I'll be very excited when I get there to that contest."

. . .

"OH WOW!" said a very excited Nathalie.

The preparation for the contest in Ontario, Canada was obviously.. GRAND.

It was like a festival (**gah. Di ba dapat libingan, daming math-related thingies), **with all the lively activities and the cheery stalls inside the stadium. Nathalie couldn't help but feel awed.

"Wow." Said Matt. "Adik sila."

"Wee~ it's so fun here! Wah, what curious cookies! They have very intricate designs.. wait the designs are actually mathematical formulas! Wahh creative. Oooh! That fountain. So cool.. eh? There's a stand near the fountain.. what it says.. hm. 'The middle fountain spouts water in about once every 5 seconds. The fountains on the corners of the pool spout water twice every 7 seconds. The circular patterned ones spout water once every 3 seconds. Find out how many seconds it will take for all of the fountains to spout water in unison.' Wahhh a math problem on a fountain.. ooh that one – "

"Nathalie.. you're too excited." Said Matt.

"But it's SO cool!!"

"*sigh..*"

Suddenly a cool female voice spoke.

"All participants please register at the counter near the Pi exhibit. Thank you."

"Hey let's go register already."

"Okay."

…

MEANWHILE..

"Ehh aren't you worried?" said Jason.

Don looked up from the book he was reading.

"What?'

"About the competition.." Said JahnCa.

"Oh. Of course not. They'll ace that easily."

"Hey, that's not what I meant."

"Yeah.. Aren't you worried about Matt and Nathalie being together?" said Tim.

That was it. The atmosphere has become even more thick. Things only got worse when Tim said the last statement. He had thrown a match.

"What are you talking about?" said Don frostily.

The other boys looked at each other. Then left. But a second too late. The seeds of doubt have been planted.

"John Matthew Morales Magboo. Nathalie Joy Blas Sucgang. Both 14 years old. Representatives of Quezon City Science High School. Here are your ids. You are to wear them at all times while you're here in the stadium."

"Thank you." Said Matt and Nathalie.

"Okay. Next!"

…

_Darn it_. Thought Don. _What are they doing there…Dammit. I can't tell when I'm here. There has to be a way to know for sure…_

"Okay." Said Matt. "The competition is in 5 hours. So.. Let's review..?"

"Haha!" laughed Nathalie. "Don't be so serious, Boo. Have some fun!"

"Nathalie, this is an international contest –"

"Contest schmontest. Screw that thing. Relax. Just think that this is just a normal quizbee.."

"There's no way that'll happen."

"Okay, a local math contest.."

"That's individual."

"Ehmm.. whatever! Pretend.. no stop, let me finish," said Nathalie quickly when she saw that Matt was about to open his mouth to protest. "Just think that this is.. a DotA game. Sometimes you get firstblood, sometimes they get to you first. But that's not really important now, is it? What's important is how you play the game, to finish it and gets as many kills as you can to your opponent, or opponents. You won't let yourself become some fertilizer, and you'll quickly strategize something in order to beat your opponent.. no wait. Chambahan lang pala." Grinned Nathalie. Matt was beginning to smile, as well. Then she continued some more. "Anyways, just replace your hero as yourself and your opponents the other representatives of the foreign countries. Then, when the question is asked.. or being asked, you'll quickly analyze and compute and solve for the answer. With the firstblood thing, maybe if we score first, some of our opponents get intimidated, then be distracted.." mused Nathalie. Matt chuckled.

_What an imagination she has._ he thought.

Then Matt realized that Nathalie wasn't finished talking yet.

"… then when you have enough kills, you'll earn gold then you'll be able to buy a proper item build for your hero.. The same with this math contest. The more points you gain, the higher our chances of winning. Also, in a DotA game, the longer you play, the more you can memorize or guess quickly where or when an opponent will strike.. minsan naiinis ako dun sa Pounce ni Slark, madalas di ako nakakaalis bago nya ako makill.. anyways, same here with the contest, you –"

"can easily guess the opponents' strategy when it comes to the question and with some quick-thinking, you'll be able to turn it into your own advantage." Finished Matt.

"Oh, so you DO get it!" exclaimed Nathalie happily.

Matt grinned.

"You're right." Said Matt. " I can have fun here. And win at the same time." He smiled impishly. It reminded Nathalie of the pixies in HP2. **(no offense magboo :P)**

"Right. So shall we continue this serious review, o Great Serious Emperor of the Realm of Seriousness?"

"Nah." Shrugged Magboo playfully. "Let's play DotA."

…

_Darn plane_. thought Don, gritting his teeth. _I knew I should've ridden a jet. This is too slow!_

True enough, The Curly Star Airlines **(guess whose business is this)** were mostly about airplanes flying peacefully through the sky, while its passengers rode luxuriously. It has a casino, pool, gym, movie theater, large library (where Don was currently in), spa, fancy and massive dining area, and almost about a hundred deluxe and well-appointed rooms. Even the toilets were fabulous.

While Don complained silently in his head, he wasn't aware that a group of paparazzis and newscasters were recording his every move, stolen. Of course, who would've thought that the young master of the Vengua fortune was going to ride this airplane today, unexpectedly? Surely for all the media people on board, this was their lucky day. With their excellent expert stealth skills that could've helped them easily rob the most complex bank in the world, Don didn't even notice anything that made him aware of the recording happening around him. Nor did he even care. He was busy planning what to do when he meets Nathalie at Canada.

_Hmm.. first I'll apply myself to a room at the Maple Leaf Grand Suites.. _

"HA! I've beaten your Rylai!" said Matt triumphantly. Nathalie rolled her eyes.

"Hey let's review a little." Said Nathalie.

Matt snorted. "And I thought nobody here is serious about this."

"Hello, will you look at that – Nathalie pointed to a clock. It read 2pm. – Barely an hour is left for our last-minute review. Come on care a little, would you?"

Matt sighed. Sometimes Nathalie is driving him crazy. One minute –well actually 4 hours ago – she was all about having fun, playing computer games and all, even having a good comparison of DotA with this stupid math competition, then suddenly she changed her mind! Darn unpredictable processing of her human brain.

"Okay!" said Nathalie, a little panicky. "Let's start with some geometry.."

…

"Alright!" said Don, relieved that his excruciatingly luxurious yet slow ride has come to an end. "Off to the Suites I go.."

"…exponent of _a _always starts with _n_ in the first term and decreases by 1 in each succeeding term until it is 0 in the last term. The exponent_ b _starts with 0 and increases by 1 in each succeeding term until it is _n_ in the last term.." trailed Nathalie.

"Then the 2nd and 3rd terms of (a + b)3 are 3ba^2 and 3ab^2 respectively." Finished Matt.

"Yeah…"

Both stared at the books untidingly piled in front of them. Looking at the clock, they saw that it was quarter to 3. Then, Nathalie suddenly slumped herself onto the sofa.

"Ahhh! Finally!" she exclaimed.

Matt nodded in agreement. After that intense review session, he felt pooped. **(huh. Di yan tae ah. 'Pooped' there means tired)** Still, he couldn't forget the fact that Nathalie, despite of her happy-go-lucky and cheerful demeanor, when the time comes, she becomes amazingly serious and cool. Matt couldn't help but notice her bright cinnamon-colored eyes **(wait, anong kulay ng cinnamon..? bah, wtvr nalang =]])** , her messy yet wonderful hair flowing black hair, her lively tone of voice, and many others.

_Wait_, said Matt mentally to himself, _have I fallen for Nathalie..? **(oh yes. :])**  
_

…

"Mr. Vengua, your suite # is 617." Said the woman at the counter with a foreign accent, handing Don a key. "We hope you enjoy your stay!"

_What time is it.._ thought Don. Oh. _It's 3 pm…_

_._

_. ._

_. . ._

_What?! 3 pm!?! *(!&$!! It's almost time for the competition!!!_

"The representatives of Bangladesh…" said the commentator/judge/quiz master.

After she had said that line, two kids with very pointy noses and curly hair stepped out in front of the stage. The audience clapped, and the 2 girls went off to the tables assigned to them.

"The representatives of Belgium…"

_God, this is gonna take a while_, thought Nathalie. She was about to complain more inside her head when she noticed Matt staring at her as if she was the center of the universe. **(in this case, **_**his**_** universe) **

"Err.. Matt? Is there something on my face?" asked Nathalie.

Matt looked as if he snapped right out of a trance.

"Huh? N-no, I was just.. nervous. Looking at you makes me feel better." He said.

With the poor lighting at the backstage, Matt couldn't notice the light tinge of pink flash across Nathalie's face.

…

"Dammit." Growled Don under his breath. _They've got traffic jams this long even here in Canada?!_

"The representatives of Malaysia…"

_Ok_, thought Nathalie. _It's almost our turn…_

"The representatives of Nigeria…"

The crowd applauded.

"… The representatives of Norway..."

_Almost there.._ thought Nathalie.

Then, all of a sudden, she saw someone she didn't expect to see.

Especially here at Canada.

"The representative of Peru…"

"Don!" exclaimed Nathalie. Nathalie thought she saw Matt frown a little. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Can we talk over there?" said Don apologetically. He was a panting a little, too.

"Uhh.. sure." She replied.

If any more possible, Nathalie thought she saw Matt grimace and sigh.

"Okay." Said Don when they were there now at a quiet place backstage. "I went here for one, and one reason only. I want to ask you.."

"Yes?" said Nathalie patiently.

"..if you like Magboo."

A painful silence filled the space they were in.

Then came the laughter.

Nathalie was laughing so hard that tears came running down her face. Don looked alarmed.

"Nathalie what –"

"You're unbelievable," said Nathalie, a trace of disbelief in her tone. "You mean you went all the way here from the Philippines, skipped classes, and...rode the Curly Star Airlines?! Don, don't you know that_ that_ kind of plane is for –"

"Yes, yes I know. I made the mistake of having my butler buy the tickets for me. Especially when I did say to buy the tickets to a plane that'll reach Canada in the shortest possible time there is." Said Don, slightly annoyed. "Anyways, you hadn't answered my question yet."

Nathalie chuckled. "Sure, I like him. –Don felt his heart fell at those words – But no feelings for him in a romantic way. We're friends, Don. Surely you can't expect to have only you as my male friends now, can you? It's inevitable since almost all of my opponents in DotA are males."

Don felt a wave of warmth flood inside of him.

"Okay. Just wanted to know." Don had to stop himself at the last minute for him not to say that the whole thing had driven him crazy over the past few days.

"…The representatives of the Philippines…"

"Oh!" said Nathalie. "That's our cue. See you later after the contest, Don!"

"Sure. I'll treat you to a cornetto."

"Thanks! That's something to really look forward to!"

…

After about 1 hour and 25 minutes, the competition ended, of course having Nathalie and Matt the victors of the 2nd year level division.

"Here you go, as promised." Said Don, handing Nathalie a cornetto.

"Yay!"

"Heeey what about me?" said Matt.

Don laughed. "Here." Handing Matt another cornetto, with a different flavor.

"Thanks."

"So.." said Nathalie. "DotA tayo?"

"YEAH!!!!"


	7. Weird Laugh

_**AN!**___

_**Nathalie x Don fic to ah. Pati:**_

_**DotA boys – obvious. o _ O**_

_**DotA girls – mga girls na naglalaro ng DotA, pero minsan lang. (in short, di ganun ka-adik sa DotA compared dun sa boys :D)**_

"_**Hnn." For girls.**_

"_**Hmm." For boys."**_

_**Wala lang naisip ko kasi parang ewan kung hmm din ung girls.. weird thought :P**_

* * *

**Weird Laugh**

". . . yeah I know."

"That test was just waaaaay too hard."

"Tell me about it."

"Argh! I hate #24. What's the answer to that anyway?"

"Imaginary?"

"Hnn."

It was just after the algebra exam. All the students immediately bickered away when the proctor **[AN: All hail Ma'am Soria.]** said time's up and pass the papers. Obviously the boys talked about DotA, while the girls chatted about things with more variety, like ice cream (yay!), due projects, next exams, pointers, lunch, etc.

"Yeah DotA na tayo!!!!" boomed Bryan.

"We're short on one player.." said Tim.

"Hmm. Lyra?" said Joshua.

"I don't want to." Said Lyra. Obviously, the DotA girls weren't oblivious to the loud conversation of the boys regarding DotA.

"Aww. Maan?" asked Magboo.

Maan just shot her trademark "What face" at him.

"Tara?" asked JahnCa hopefully.

"NO." said Tara curtly. "Ayoko maging food."

JahnCa rolled his eyes. Tara glared. Someone grinned.

"Ck ikaw?" Blessie asked the grinning girl.

"Don't want to~" grinned CK.

"And that is because..?" said Blessie, raising an eyebrow.

"New fanfic." Said CK simply and glanced at Tara and JahnCa. "Also, the service leaves early.."

"Ohh."

"OH." Said Tara, turning her glare to CK's direction. "So whose fanfic was that again?"

CK grinned. Then ran away towards the Hydro classroom. **[AN: My hideout :D]**

"So.. who else wants to join?" asked Sandy.

'Try asking Nathalie." Said Don.

"Ok. Ah, you sure you don't want to join, Don?" asked Sandy.

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Nathalie!" yelled Sandy.

". . ."

"Heeey Nathalie!" said Magboo.

Still there was no response. Nathalie just continued to stare at the window, her eyes unfocused as if she were daydreaming or deep in thought. The boys were about to ask her again when she suddenly laughed from out of the blue. Weirdly.

"Wooah Nathalie. Penny for your thoughts?" said Lyra.

"It's nothing," grinned Nathalie mysteriously.

All of them stared at her all the more.

"It's nothing!" said Nathalie, exasperated.

"Ok, if you say so.." said Maan.

"Weird Nathalie." Commented CK.

"Ahaha" laughed Nathalie.

Still, there was one who wasn't convinced. As Nathalie continued to put on her usual composure, Don eyed her suspiciously.

_I wonder what was she thinking back then.._ thought Don. _Better not brood on it though_.

And so, everything went back to the way it used to be, and everyone either went out to play DotA or headed straight home. Although, normal isn't what Don would probably describe earlier's occurrence.. From his point of view anyway.

– At Don's room – **[AN: ahaha.]**

*Don flops onto the bed.*

"Darn it." Said Don quietly. "I _still_ can't stop thinking about that laugh.."

Don tried to distract himself from thinking about the laugh. He tried to read some books, draw, roll on the floor, laugh like a maniac, bang his head on the wall (since his room is soundproof, others in his house aren't bothered by the noise, or even notice it), stare at Nathalie's picture (when he realized he was staring at it, he immediately stopped and banged his head on the walls again), do the geometry project, play PSP, listen to his iPod, measure the distance of every picture frame hanged on the walls of his room using a ruler with the increments measured in mm., do yoga, eat ruffles, watch anime, experiment some new hairstyles on his hair using Gatsby, try contact lenses, polish his fingernails black and do the emo thing, undo his fingernails and revert back to normal, and dance the hula. Even playing DotA wasn't of any help.

Don gave up eventually. So instead of ignoring the matter, he then thought all about that laugh.

_Hmm.._ thought Don. _What could possibly make Nathalie laugh like that? Maybe.. she realized some mistake she did in the exam with a problem that was very easy..? No.. it couldn't have been that. A new strategy for DotA? Wait, why would she think ang laugh about DotA anyway? Maybe… she did some prank on a teacher! Ugh. No way. Ehhh what else… maybe.. she has OCD (Obsessive Cullen Daydreaming) that time.. agh no way, I don't think she's _that_ into twilight. Arghhh more possibilities.. maybeeee.. she DOES like Magboo! (refer to before chapters) Nooooooo. Ah? Wait Nathalie already said she does not like him.. Ahhh but what if she lied..?? . Ugh. I won't think about that, I believe in Nathalie..! Ehh what else could've been the reason??? Hmm… maybe she's gone insane? Pshaw. That last one was just too random. Maybe it's because she read a new manga? Hmm. Ughh I really have to know! I'll ask her tomorrow then.."_

THE NEXT DAY…

"Nathalie," said Don.

"What?" said Nathalie.

"What was that laugh all about?"

"Huh?"

"Yesterday."

"Ohhh.. Ah you don't need to worry about that it was nothing.."

Don sighed exasperatedly.

"Nathalie.."

"I told you," said Nathalie while turning to face Don fully, looking Don in the eye. "You don't need to – "

Nathalie stopped talking abruptly. She had just noticed the black circles under Don's eyes. They weren't there yesterday.

"Ohh.. okay I'll tell you."

Don smiled weakly. Nathalie sighed.

"Yesterday, I wasn't really listening to you all. I was.. recalling something. I was just remembering about that contest abroad.. and how I observed your face then. I laughed at how it was seemingly irritated." Said Nathalie, glancing down.

_Well it wasn't just seemingly. I really was irritated back then_. Thought Don.

"Okay.."

Nathalie's eyebrows furrowed.

"You don't mean what you say. You're not even smiling! How can THAT be okay."

Involuntarily, Don smiled. Somehow, Nathalie always knows what to say to him whenever he's down.

"There! That's better." Smiled Nathalie.

"Ah, Nathalie." Said Don, as Nathalie turned to resume what she had left undone before Don talked to her.

"Yes?"

"Since you made me feel better.. I'll treat you to your favorite."

Nathalie grinned. "Yay! Cornetto!!! Later at 4 'kay?"

"Okay."

* * *

**OKAAAAY. WHAT A STUPID ENDING. SOBRANG PANGET!! Cornetto nanaman yung endiiiing :|**


	8. Pretzels!

School ended more than an hour ago as Nathalie made an early exit from math club. She leisurely strolled back into the school building, passing by random classmates who were leftover from club activities or possibly cleaning duties. Nathalie stopped in front of her classroom and stared at the bare room.

Much to her surprise, Nathalie saw the room wasn't bare at all. Save for that one annoying boy named Don. All lonesome, Don was sitting at his desk and eating a doughnut.

"Don," she called to him.

He turned to that recognizable voice, and his face brightened up. "You're back early, Joy!"

"Don't call me Joy!" she replied as she walked over to her desk, which was in front of Don's desk, unfortunately for her.

On numerous occasions, Nathalie would get annoyed everytime Don poked the back of her head. Either he had a question about the lesson, or he did it just for fun. Then test day would come, and often he emerged as the higher scorer than Nathalie, much to her disappointment and annoyance. It wasn't until their 2nd year that she came to realize that Don hardly took notes and was indeed a pesky, evil genius. If the studious Nathalie could describe him, Don was lazy and would only work hard at what he considered "work worth doing," which included teasing Nathalie at almost every second, of every minute, of every hour everytime, of everyday. The only thing that made this unfortunate seating arrangement tolerable was that Blessie's seat right next to her own and Lyra's seat in front of her. (Although she was too busy making googoo eyes with JV.)

Nathalie raised an eyebrow when a peculiar thought crossed her mind. "Were you waiting for me, Don?" she curiously asked.

Don nodded. "Lyra left and didn't wait with me for you..." Again, another odd thought. Lyra wasn't the type of person to do that. "She has a date with JV tomorrow, so I don't blame her."

Sitting at her seat, she asked, "How'd that happen?" For all Nathalie knew, Lyra and JV were trapped in that stubbornly shy situation.

She spoke too soon when Done grinned widely and pointed to himself. "Divine intervention, a.k.a. Me!" he boasted. "Sweet, huh? I 'accidentally' bumped Lyra's head and poof! There he was, the instantly annoyed JV to the rescue. Hmm.. What exactly was his line again..? Ah! 'How dare you, apologize to her! Nevermind, I'll just stay here so that I can prevent anymore hurt that may come to Lyra. I won't let anyone hurt her. Anymore.' HA! I think there's a double meaning to that…"

"WHAT. You're so.. so.. chismosa." Said Nathalie, propping her chin on her palm.

Don fiercely shook his head. "No, I'm not. I just thought that the double meaning involves a certain Pretzel boy…"

Nathalie rolled her eyes.

Don ignored her last action, moving straight on to his question, "So, how's life with Magboo?"

Nathalie just stared at him, unsure whether to take him seriously or not. "What. The. Hell." she flatly stated before continuing, "I TOLD you, there's nothing going on between us, we're both math club members."

"Riiiiight." Don very dramatically rolled his eyes to the ceiling. Nathalie stuck her tongue at him, and so did Don.

"Wanna bet?" challenged Don, and Nathalie thought she saw Don wiggle his eyebrows.

Nathalie considered his statement. "What's the bet all about?"

Don looked at the untouched doughnut he was about to eat and shook his head. Then Nathalie saw him rummaging his bag. And afterwards, he clutched… a Pretzel box. "Okay, here's the deal. We're going to –"

"What the hell are we going to do with these Pretzel sticks? Eat as many until we puke?"

"No stupid. Ok here! We both take one end each and keep biting until we reach the middle. The person who holds on till the end, wins!" he explained the rules.

"But what if we both hold on till the end?"

"Then it's a tie! Got it?" Don winked. It was definitely a trap awaiting Nathalie. "So if I win, you're going to do anything I requested you to do, and that includes shouting to the whole QCSHS campus that you like Magboo (Nathalie just thought for a sec that there was a hint of pain in Don's voice) and that you want him to be your partner to the prom coming up. If you win –"

"I'm free to do whatever I please, without your say on the matter!" Nathalie hastily stated her terms of the deal.

"In case we tie, then we have to keep playing. I still have a whole box to go through," Don said, shaking the box. Then he placed the Pretzel stick into his mouth and directed a devious smirk at Nathalie.

"Don't be so confident, darn it..." said Nathalie, shaking her head before taking her end of the stick. _I have to win this...!_

Nathalie started to nibble slowly on the chocolate stick, but Don was chomping away with haste. Nathalie raised an eyebrow, silently questioning his actions with the gesture. The mischievous teenager remained firm in his position, and suddenly a thought struck his mind. He stopped, catching Nathalie off guard. She gave him a look to continue, but he wouldn't budge. Don gazed up into Nathalie's eyes, and when she looked into his, she saw traces of a certain softness in them, uncharacteristic for the nonchalant boy.

"Suki da."

Nathalie suddenly broke off the stick just before Don pulled her in and crashed his lips against hers. All of this was too much for Nathalie to take in. Don's words had yet to fully register in her brain, let alone the kiss that followed. Before she could figure out how to react to this, Don pulled away, and Nathalie fell into her seat. He smirked at the dazed Nathalie who was stuttering incomprehensible words.

"What's that? I won, Joy?" Don taunted the speechless girl. "Oh dear, you have a chocolate smudge." He kisses the edge of her lips, licking the chocolate off her face.

Nathalie was still stunned as Don took off, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Wait, Don!" Nathalie called to him, standing up from her seat and holding a hand to her rapidly beating heart. "What you said..."

"Oh that? I was just kidding," Don cooly brushed it off. He stopped and changed his expression though, when he saw Nathalie's blank face. "Ah! Don't take it seriously! I DID mean it. I was kidding about kidding about _that_. Didju gett?"

Nathalie laughed at Don's last comment. Don breathed easily now, now that Nathalie understands. Don walks on toward the door. Ah, before he almost forgot…

"Ah, about winning.. I won that request, right?"

"Y-You...!!!" Nathalie was turning red with embarrassment. Don't he dare tell her to shout about the untrue 'I like Magboo' thing. Fuming with anger, she was ready to kick his ass.

Just before exiting the room, Don turned around to look at her. "Nathalie, I want you to be my prom date. No buts." and with that, he took his leave.

Mixed emotions filled her. Her heart leapt and sank at the same time, happy about one thing and disappointed about the other. Why did he think that she'd say no to that request? Why did he have to go to such methods just to ask her that?

"Stupid jerk..."

* * *

**AN! May reference ako, at yun yung novel na dala ng pinsan ko. Yung pretzels idea ko, pero yung afterwards nun na pagdedescribe, copy paste nalang sa novel. Ayaw ipalagay ng pinsan ko yung title ng book… **

**Ah, "suki da" means "I love you" informally… at sinasabi madalas ng boys.. :)) weird pag girls ung nagsabi (pag sa japan).**


	9. In Their Own World

Sweet, classical music filled the room.

Everybody danced; gracefully, elegantly, and enchantingly that it left the photographers and vidcamera men breathless.

Yet none had left them most breathless than before when their eyes came upon the little world where Don and Nathalie found themselves lost into.

Don bowed. With Nathalie's hand in his, he gentlemanly asked her to dance with him. Nathalie blushingly agreed.

Don led first. With perfect choreography, he danced accordingly with the harmonious piano melody currently filling the room.

They twirled, swayed, took turns in taking the lead, and smiled contentedly at each other while at it.

As they pranced around their little world, they barely became aware that the others were also forming a separate world of their own.

They were too preoccupied to even notice their surroundings.

They were too busy to enjoy this enchantingly melody-filled night.

===== - =====

AN

Wahhh. So short. Pero parang preview yan sa Prom :)


	10. Singing Rivals and? END!

AN! Got this song from somber-quill... I think I'll be using this song for another pairing.. I think for Maan. :P

Anyways, the song is Just the Girl by The Click Five.

* * *

**SINGING CONTEST!**

Anyone can join;

First, Second, Third, Fourth year...

Teachers, Janitors..

Even the principal.

Any song would do, just show the world [er.. quesci]

Your wonderful singing voice!

Prize: P2000

**[AN: HAHAHA. Di ko alam eh. :P]**

"Hmm.. this is perfect." Said a voice.

Reading on, Don saw that he can register at the GPTA building. He went towards the venue quickly, almost running.

"I'd like to register for the singing contest..." said Don.

"Okay, just write your name here... yes there. And.. sign here.. Done." Said the woman.

"Thanks."

"Good luck!"

Meanwhile...

"Hmm.. a singing contest huh. This may prove to be a great chance for.." trailed Fritz.

"Hmm. So registration is at the GPTA building." Said Felix.

"Shall we join?"

"Hehe. Basta ako sure."

As both of them ran towards the GPTA building, they passed by Don.

"Hi Don!" said Felix.

"DOTA mamaya?" asked Fritz.

"Ah, no thanks.." said Don, and he sprinted back up towards his classroom.

"Ah well.." shrugged Fritz.

"Anyways.."

"Registration?" asked a woman.

"Yes please."

"Both of us actually."

"Duet?" smiled the woman.

"Nope," grinned Felix, laughing silently at the thought of having Fritz to be his duet partner. Hilarious.

"Okay, just write your name here... yes there. And.. sign here.. Done."

"My turn!" said Fritz.

"Okay, just write your name here... yes there. And.. sign here.. Done."

As both boys turned and walked towards to their classrooms, Felix said, "I think she rehearsed her lines."

"The woman at the registration counter?" asked Fritz.

"Yeah. It's all 'okay, just write your name here... yes there. And.. sign here.. Done.'" Imitated Felix.

Both boys laughed. Then ran quickly as they realized afterlunch period was starting.

"Hmm.." thought Don. "I wonder what song I'm going to sing.."

"Di nga!!!" said a voice.

Don immediately recognized it. It was Nathalie's, his one and only crush.

"Anyways, his crush is Dana."

Don sighed. If only he could tell her... that despite her too bubbly and hyper yet mean character, _she_ is his crush, his one love. That he doesn't want any other girl; just her, and that he's willing to do anything for her.. Hey. That rings a bell. I think I'll sing _that_ song..

"So, what are you gonna sing?" asked Fritz, when the last period was finished.

"Huh?" said Felix.

"Have you decided on a song?"

"Ah." Grinned Felix. "Yep."

"And, you don't have any plans of telling me, right?"

"Yep."

"Fair enough. I don't either."

"Haha.."

Of course, Nathalie wasn't oblivious to the sudden change of behaviour of some of her friends.

_Well sure, it's not strange to see Blessie join the contest.. But I think Don, Felix and Fritz are hiding something.. _said Nathalie to herself silently.

AT THE DAY OF THE CONTEST..

_Huh, where are Don, Fritz and Felix?_ Thought Nathalie.

Then, right at that moment, the MC spoke.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! It is really a pleasure for you to be here. Sadly, no teacher, janitor and neither the principal have decided to join this contest. Still, I hope you enjoy our fellow schoolmates' performances! Let the contest begin! The arrangement of the participants are random, 'kay? First off.. Blessie Padios!

A warm round of applause came from the audience, though Nathalie noted that the loudest clapper was a certain someone on her right.

"This song is dedicated to... Tim." Said Blessie.

The person on Nathalie's right smiled. Nathalie thought she heard a 'thank you' from him.

_I don't know but  
I think I maybe  
Fallin' for you  
Dropping so quickly  
Maybe I should  
Keep this to myself  
Waiting 'til I  
Know you better_

_I am trying  
Not to tell you  
But I want to  
I'm scared of what you'll say  
So I'm hiding what I'm feeling  
But I'm tired of  
Holding this inside my head_

_I've been spending all my time  
Just thinking about ya  
I don't know where to  
I think I'm fallin' for you  
I've been waiting all my life  
And now I found ya  
I don't know where to  
I think I'm fallin' for you  
I'm fallin' for you_

_As I'm standing here  
And you hold my hand  
Pull me towards you  
And we start to dance  
All around us  
I see nobody  
Here in silence  
It's just you and me_

_I'm trying  
Not to tell you  
But I want to  
I'm scared of what you'll say  
So I'm hiding what I'm feeling  
But I'm tired of  
Holding this inside my head_

_I've been spending all my time  
Just thinking about ya  
I don't know where to  
I think I'm fallin' for you  
I've been waiting all my life  
and now I found ya  
I don't know where to  
I think I'm fallin' for you  
I'm fallin' for you_

_Oh, I just can't take it  
My heart is racing  
The emotions keep spinning out_

_I've been spending all my time  
Just thinking about ya  
I don't know where to  
I think I'm fallin' for you  
I've been waiting all my life  
and now I found ya  
I don't know where to  
I think I'm fallin' for you  
I'm fallin' for you  
I think I'm fallin' for you_

_I can't stop thinking about it  
I want you all around me  
And now I just can't hide it  
I think I'm fallin' for you.._

_I'm fallin' for you_

_Ooohhh  
Oh no no  
Oooooohhh...  
Oh I'm fallin' for you_

When Blessie finished singing the last note, a louder applause came from the audience. Some people hooted.

Before Blessie left the stage, she shot a glance at Tim. Tim grinned. So did Blessie.

"Okay, next contestant... Felix!"

Shock engulfed the audience. Most of all, Nathalie. _What is he doing?_ She thought.

After Felix readied himself on the stage, he said, "I dedicate this song to Nathalie."

More shock for Nathalie. Especially because of the song.

_You're the sky that I fell through  
And I remember the view  
Whenever I'm holding you  
The sun hung from a string  
Looking down on the world as it warms over everything_

_  
Chills run down my spine  
As our fingers entwine  
And your sighs harmonize with mine  
Unmistakably  
I can still feel your heart beat fast when you dance with me_

_  
We got older and I should've known (Do you feel alive?)  
That I'd feel colder when I walk alone (Oh, but you'll survive)  
So I may as well ditch my dismay  
Bombs away, bombs away_

_Circle me and the needle moves gracefully  
Back and forth  
If my heart was a compass you'd be north  
Risk it all cause I'll catch you if you fall  
Wherever you go  
If my heart was a house you'd be home_

_It makes me smile because you said it best  
I would clearly feel blessed if the sun rose up from the west  
Flower balm perfume, all my clothes smell like you  
Cause your favorite shade is navy blue  
I walk slowly when I'm on my own (Do you feel alive?)  
Yeah, but frankly I still feel alone (Oh, but you'll survive)  
So I may as well ditch my dismay  
Bombs away, bombs away_

_Circle me and the needle moves gracefully  
Back and forth  
If my heart was a compass you'd be north  
Risk it all cause I'll catch you if you fall  
Wherever you go  
If my heart was a house you'd be home_

_If my heart was a house you'd be home_

Unexpectedly, a loud applause was the reply of the audience. Felix faked an exaggeration of thanks. The audience laughed and clapped even more. Nathalie thought she saw Felix wink at her.

"Okay, thank you Felix! Moving on.. the next performer is Fritz!"

More murmurs from the audience yet they applauded loudly all the same. Of course, Fritz was a heartthrob. Some girls even shrieked his name. Impossibly, Nathalie felt more shock enter her system.

"I solely dedicate this song to.. Nathalie." Said Fritz.

Some girls said a lot of disappointed "awws'" and some even looked for this Nathalie person. Nathalie tried to hide her disbelief.

Breathe  
And I'll carry you away  
Into the velvet sky  
And we'll stir the stars around  
And watch them fall away  
Into the Hudson Bay  
And plummet out of sight and sound

The open summer breeze  
Will sweep you through the hills  
Where I live in the alpine heights  
Below the Northern Lights  
I spend my coldest nights  
Alone, awake, and thinking of  
The weekend we were in love

Home  
Among these mountain tops  
Can be so awfully dull  
A thousand miles from the tide  
Put photos on the walls  
Of New York shopping malls  
Distract me so I stay inside

I wish the rocket stayed  
Over the promenade  
'Cause I would make a hook and I  
Can fish them from the sky  
My Darling, She and I  
Were hanging on, so take us high  
To sing the world goodbye

I am floating away  
Lost in a silent ballet  
I'm dreaming you're out in the blue  
And I am right beside you  
Await to take in the view

Late nights and early parades  
still photos and noisy arcades  
My darling we're both on the wing  
Look down and keep on singing  
And we can go anywhere

Are You There?  
(Are You There? Are You There? Are You There?)  
Are You There?  
(Are You There? Are You There? Are You There?)  
Or Are You Just A Decoy Dream  
In My Head?  
Am I Home Or Am I Simply  
Tumbling Out Alone?

I am floating away

(Floating Away)  
Lost in a silent ballet

(Silent Ballet)  
I'm dreaming you're out in the blue  
And I am right beside you

(And I Am Right Beside You)  
Await to take in the view

Late nights and early parades

(Early Parades)  
still photos and noisy arcades

(Noisy Arcades)  
My darling we're both on the wing  
Look down and keep on singing

(Look Down And Keep On Singing)  
And we can go anywhere

Are You There?  
Are You There?

When Fritz finished, the other girls squealed. They seem to have forgotten that the song was dedicated to someone else.

"Next off.. Don!"

Gasps were all heard all over the audience. Then a loud applause. For the first time, the council vice president is actually going to SING. But why? Theirs and Nathalie's questions were answered by Don's statement.

"I also dedicate this song to Nathalie.."

Hoots came from the audience. The questions running in the crowd now was "Who is this Nathalie? 3 songs were dedicated to her already!"

"Nice one Nathalie." Said Tim.

More disbelief and shock came to Nathalie. But immediately disappeared when she heard Don sing.

_She's cold and she's cruel  
But she knows what she's doin'  
She pushed me in the pool  
At our last school reunion  
She laughs at my dreams  
But I dream about her laughter  
Strange as it seems  
She's the one I'm after_

_  
Cause she's bittersweet  
She knocks me off of my feet  
And I can't help myself  
I don't want anyone else  
She's a mystery  
She's too much for me  
But I keep comin' back for more  
She's just the girl I'm lookin' for_

_She can't keep a secret  
For more than an hour  
She runs on 100 proof attitude power  
And the more she ignores me  
The more I adore her  
What can I do?  
I'd do anything for her_

_Cause she's bittersweet  
She knocks me off of my feet  
And I can't help myself  
I don't want anyone else  
She's a mystery  
She's too much for me  
But I keep comin' back for more  
She's just the girl I'm lookin' for_

_The way she sees it's me  
On her caller ID  
She won't pick up the phone  
She'd rather be alone  
But I can't give up just yet  
Cause every word she's ever said  
Is still ringin' in my head  
Still ringin' in my head_

_She's cold and she's cruel  
But she knows what she's doin'  
Knows just what to say  
So my whole day is ruined_

_Cause she's bittersweet  
She knocks me off of my feet  
And I can't help myself  
I don't want anyone else  
She's a mystery  
She's too much for me  
But I keep comin' back for more_

_Cause she's bittersweet  
She knocks me off of my feet  
And I can't help myself  
I don't want anyone else  
She's a mystery  
She's too much for me  
But I keep comin' back for more  
Oh, I keep comin' back for more  
She's just the girl I'm lookin' for  
Just the girl I'm lookin' for_

_I'm lookin' for  
I'm lookin' for  
I'm lookin' for  
Just the girl I'm lookin' for.._

And then...

The audience said: Encore! Encore! Encore!

Don laughed. Then sang.

_I can finally see that you're right there beside me.  
I am not my own, for I have been made new.  
Please don't let me go, I desperately need you.  
I am not my own, for I have been made new.  
Please don't let me go, I desperately need you._

Then, all Nathalie heard was the sound of what she thinks is the loudest applause she had heard in her whole life so far. If there were any hoots or shouts, the applause drowned them all.

Nathalie smiled. She knows just what to do.

"Okay, next singer..."

After the contest..

When Don walked away from the many students who are now his new admirers, he made a mental note to himself not to do that kind of thing again that results in much publicity. Then, when Don reached the classroom, he saw Nathalie, as if she was actually waiting for him to arrive. Don felt his heart beat faster.

"U-um.. hi Nathalie.." said Don.

Nathalie smiled.

"Wow. For the first time, the always composed vice president is stuttering." Said Nathalie.

Don was about to protest when suddenly he felt someone hugging him. Sure enough, it was Nathalie. Don felt his head spin.

"Thanks for the song..." said Nathalie. "I never thought that I was really mean to you.. I'm sorry."

"N-no! That –" said Don, but was cut off by Nathalie.

"It's alright. Anyways, I think it's not fair that you're the only one who said it so...

"I love you." Said Nathalie, finally looking at him.

Don couldn't believe his ears. Then he couldn't believe what he was seeing and feeling when all of a sudden.. Nathalie kissed him. A bit ardent, noticed Don, but he didn't care. He kissed her back. Everything was just perfect when suddenly...

They heard a cough from the direction of the door.

It was Felix and Fritz.

Both of them immediately broke contact. Nathalie managed to look sheepish while Don settled for composed yet wavering expression.

"Hope we didn't interrupt anything." Smirked Felix.

"So," said Fritz. "I guess you win Don."

"But, if you hurt her, we won't think twice. We'll immediately make a move."

Don chuckled. "Don't worry. _That_ will never happen."

Both boys near the door grinned and departed. When they left, Don turned to Nathalie.

"So. Where were we?"

"Ahaha.."

* * *

**AN!**

**Itong fanfic na to ung may pinakaaaa maraming songs na nagamit ko:**

**Artist: **Colbie Caillat **Song: **Falling For You

**Artist: **Owl City **Song: **If My Heart Was a House

**Artist: **Owl City **Song: **On the Wing

**Artist: **The Click Five **Song: **Just the Girl

**Artist: **Owl City **Song: **Meteor Shower

**May nadamay din na isa pang pairing**.. **Alam nyo nay an. Sabihin ko pa? Wahaha. B x T**

**Ah. About sa last part. Binasa ko kasi yung fic ni Nicka ehh. Tapos yung New Moon napakalapit lang sa table so.. Yun. :P :)) :)) :)) Nung binasa ko nga ulet tong fic ng ilang beses eh natawa ako eh.. especially the ending! :)) =) =))**


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